Understanding AI in Hive
Hive’s AI is built around Buzz, your in-workspace assistant. Buzz helps you draft content, summarize work, create and update actions, build dashboards, run workflows, proof files, assist on calls, and move work forward using the project context you already have permission to see.
This article explains how Buzz works today, where to manage AI features, how usage works at a high level, and where your data goes.
Buzz AI is available to everyone
Every Hive workspace can use Buzz AI. Your plan includes a monthly AI allowance so teams can use AI lightly across Hive — not only in chat.
That means you can try Buzz for everyday help (summaries, drafts, next steps, light automation) without buying a separate “AI seat” first. If your workspace uses AI more heavily, admins can add more capacity when you need it.
Admins can review workspace AI activity under Your Workspace → Buzz AI → AI usage.
Where to manage AI: the Apps page
Open Apps from your Hive sidebar. At the top you’ll see the AI Enabled Workspace section.
When Buzz AI is active, the subtitle reads: “Buzz AI is active across your workspace.”
Core experiences show an Included badge — ready to use with your workspace AI allowance.
Some features have their own on/off controls so people can opt into inbox help or proofing assistance when they want it.
Included with Buzz AI
Buzz Assistant — your 24/7 assistant for chat, planning, and getting work done in Hive.
AI Workflows — add AI-powered steps to workspace workflows.
AI Dashboards — AI summaries and questions on dashboard data.
Sidekick — always-on meeting assistant (best in the Hive desktop app). Use Open on the Sidekick card.
Optional toggles
AI Mail — let Buzz suggest next steps for email (personal toggle; connect Hive Mail first).
AI Proofing — let Buzz help analyze proofs (workspace toggle; requires Proofing & Approvals).
How to use Buzz
Buzz is Hive’s AI assistant. You’ll find it as the purple Buzz button at the top of your Hive view, inside Action Cards, Notes, Hive Mail, Dashboards, and other AI-powered surfaces.
Buzz is not a generic chatbot bolted onto Hive. It is designed to understand workspace context — projects, actions, messages, notes, and connected integrations — and help you move work forward.
Buzz Chat is the conversational interface. The AI Enabled Workspace section on the Apps page is where you see (and optionally toggle) the AI experiences that share your workspace allowance.
How usage works
Hive tracks AI activity across surfaces — chat, mail suggestions, proofing reviews, dashboards, workflows, Sidekick, and more — against your workspace’s monthly allowance.
Light everyday use is what the included allowance is for.
Different actions use different amounts of allowance (a short reply costs less than a deep multi-step agent run).
If your workspace hits its allowance for the month, AI features pause until the period resets or an admin adds more capacity.
You do not need to manage tokens or message counters yourself. Use Apps to turn features on, and ask a workspace admin if you need more capacity.
How does AI in Hive work?
At a high level, here’s what happens when you ask Buzz to do something:
You send a prompt — in Buzz Chat, an Action Card, Notes, Hive Mail, Sidekick, or another AI surface.
Buzz gathers context — only from information you already have access to in Hive (and connected integrations, if enabled). Buzz cannot see private projects, restricted notes, or data outside your permission scope.
Buzz processes your request — using large language models (LLMs) from third-party AI providers, orchestrated by Hive’s AI layer (HiveMind).
Buzz returns a result or takes action — a draft for you to review, a summary, a newly created action, a dashboard insight, a workflow update, and more.
You stay in control — for sensitive actions (like sending email), Buzz typically prepares drafts or suggestions for your approval rather than acting without consent.
Where Buzz appears in Hive
Buzz Chat — general assistant for questions, drafts, and planning
Action Cards — write descriptions, summarize threads, suggest next steps
Notes — generate and edit content; create AI images from prompts
Hive Mail — organize inbox, suggest replies, draft emails (you approve before sending)
Dashboards (AI Dashboards) — create, interpret, and refine charts and reports
App Workflows — Buzz can help create and update automated workflows
Sidekick — meeting prep, live coaching, and post-call follow-ups (desktop)
AI Proofing — review creative proofs with categorized suggestions
Goals & activity — summarize recent workspace activity and progress
How does Buzz “learn”?
Your workspace data is not used to train third-party AI models.
When you interact with Buzz:
Requests are processed to fulfill your prompt in real time.
Hive uses enterprise agreements with AI providers designed to prevent your data from being stored or used for model training by those providers.
This is a key reason many teams prefer Buzz over pasting workspace content into external tools like ChatGPT.
Buzz does adapt to you through preferences and optional features
Buzz can get smarter for you inside Hive through settings you control:
AI Memories
Teach Buzz your preferences under AI → General → AI Memories.
Examples:
“Always use bullet points in status updates.”
“When summarizing, include blockers and next steps.”
“Don’t archive emails from @client.com.”
Memories apply to Buzz Chat and email next steps.
Optional inbox learning (Hive Mail)
Under Hive Mail → Buzz AI settings, you can enable “Allow Buzz to learn from your inbox.”
When on, Buzz may learn from messages you skip or interact with to improve future suggestions (archiving, labeling, next steps). Off by default. You choose whether to turn this on.
What Buzz can access
Buzz only accesses information you already have permission to view in Hive:
Projects, actions, sections, labels, statuses, assignees, comments, custom fields
Notes and documents you can open
Messages and activity metadata needed for workflows and auditing
Calendar events (when you request calendar-related actions)
Connected integrations (only if enabled and within your access scope)
Buzz cannot access private projects you can’t view, restricted notes, disconnected integrations, or anything outside your permission scope. Buzz respects the same visibility rules as the rest of Hive.
Data storage and security
Hive’s platform security applies to AI the same as everything else:
Encrypted in transit and at rest
SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA aligned practices
Not indexed by search engines — workspace content isn’t publicly crawlable
SSO support — Okta, Azure AD, SAML (Enterprise Security)
Audit trail — Buzz interactions can be logged and reviewed by admins
Full data erasure — available for organizations on request (Enterprise Security)
For regulated or sensitive work, use private projects, restrict integrations, and add approval steps before high-impact automations.
What can Buzz do?
Content & communication
Draft action descriptions, status updates, meeting agendas, and emails
Summarize long action threads, notes, and workspace activity
Generate images from prompts (royalty-free, for decks, docs, etc.)
Proof and refine copy inside Notes and Action Cards
Project & task management
Create, update, and reassign actions
Apply labels, statuses, and custom fields
Restructure projects and sections
Search or replace field values across work
Reporting & insights
Build and update Dashboards and widgets
Pull workspace statistics and progress toward goals
Convert data into visual summaries and narrative reports
Automation
Create and edit App Workflows from natural language
Run AI-powered workflow steps and recurring AI tasks
Email (Hive Mail)
Suggest next steps when you open a thread
Draft replies in Gmail or Outlook (you send)
Optionally auto-archive low-priority mail (off by default)
Optionally learn from inbox behavior (off by default)
Important: Buzz helps create email drafts but does not send email on your behalf unless you explicitly enable specific auto-actions and approve the result.
Admin and workspace controls
Apps → AI Enabled Workspace — see Included features and toggle AI Mail / AI Proofing
Workspace Settings → Buzz AI — shared rules, AI Proofing settings, meeting defaults, AI usage
Enterprise Security app — SSO, data erasure, advanced access controls
Permissions — Buzz inherits user-level access; tighten project/note visibility for sensitive work
Integrations — only connect systems you want Buzz to reason over
Best practices for using AI in Hive
Start with clear prompts — include project name, timeframe, and desired output format.
Review before publishing — treat Buzz output as a first draft, especially for client-facing or executive content.
Use AI Memories — encode preferences once instead of repeating them every prompt.
Keep sensitive data in restricted spaces — use private projects and note permissions for confidential work.
Avoid putting secrets in prompts — don’t paste passwords, API keys, or regulated identifiers.
Use approval workflows — for high-impact automations, require human review before Buzz acts broadly.
Give feedback — thumbs up/down and Memory updates improve Buzz for your workflow over time.
Frequently asked questions
Does Buzz replace my team?
No. Buzz handles repetitive drafting, summarization, and data gathering so your team can focus on decisions and collaboration.
Can Buzz access data I can’t see?
No. Buzz is permission-aware and limited to what your account can access.
Do I need to buy Buzz before I can try it?
No. Light AI use is included with your Hive plan. Visit Apps → AI Enabled Workspace to see what’s available.
Can I turn AI features off?
Optional features like AI Mail and AI Proofing have their own toggles. Individual Mail preferences (inbox learning, auto-archive) are off by default. Ask a workspace admin about workspace-level AI settings.
What if we use a lot of AI?
Your workspace has a monthly allowance sized for everyday use. Admins can see usage under Buzz AI settings and add more capacity if the team is running larger or more frequent AI workloads.
How is Buzz different from using ChatGPT directly?
Buzz already knows your Hive context (projects, actions, permissions) and can take action inside the product. It also runs under Hive’s security and privacy controls rather than a personal consumer AI account.
Who can see what Buzz did?
AI-generated changes appear in normal workspace activity history. Admins with appropriate access can audit Buzz interactions depending on your plan and settings.